Wow, I went almost five full years without having The Law tell me to move along!

Let me tell the story before y’all get up in arms! 😀

I saw the code enforcement vehicle pull up this afternoon. I let the driver come out and show interest in the rig to make sure he was after me before going out to speak with him.

He was very polite and said that there have been changes to some city ordinances and that my motorhome is too big to be parked in a front yard in Dallas. That said, he’s cognizant of the fact that Dallas has no RV parks and that Walmarts only allow a night’s stay. So he usually let’s these violations go if the plate is from out of state and the person is obviously not staying long.

But a neighbour called and made a complaint! I can’t believe some people! How about going up to the very accessible motorhome (windows and door open during the day) and getting some intelligence on the person’s plans?

I told him that I had planned to leave this weekend or early in the week, but that I was packed and could be out and on the road within the hour. He gasped and said, “No, no! I don’t want to ruin your weekend! Just be gone by Tuesday night.”

My concern at this point was that Ms. Cinnamon was going to get a ticket. He said that if I hadn’t come out to speak to him, she would have likely received a hefty fine that she would have then had to contest. But since I was so agreeable, he could issue me a warning and essentially leave Ms. Cinnamon out of it.

So I’m now on record with the city of Dallas!

Ms. Cinnamon will disagree, but I do feel like I have overstayed in Dallas, so it’s good to have the fire lit under me even though I really did intend to leave this weekend. The only difference now is that I have actually figured out my next move.

Going west just isn’t going to happen. I don’t have the money for it. So I’m sticking with plan A and will be going northwest slooooowly. Weather can change very dramatically in a month!

Weather reports from Wichita are making me hopeful that spring has sprung there, so I feel comfortable heading in that direction. There is a rest area about 1.5 hours north of Dallas where I can stay for 24 hours. So I will leave Dallas late Sunday afternoon and arrive at the rest area for dinner.

Same thing Monday, except I’ll head to a Walmart just shy of OK City. Same thing Tuesday, only I’ll head to a casino in Shawnee to finish up the week as I should be able to stay a few nights.

Saturday or Sunday, I’ll head to Wichita. I’ll be on the street there, so I’ll really only have two or three nights. After that, it’s a long day to a city campground in Strombsburg NE that takes donations.

From there, I’ll be facing three days of hard driving (about 500KM per day) to get to my property. If the weather continues to clear up (the 14 day forecast for southern Saskatchewan is surprisingly encouraging), I may continue to inch my way northwest. Otherwise, I will looking for a four-day window of clear weather and just do a cannonball run.

The important thing by this point will be to get across the border. It won’t matter where. I just need to get there before the customs deadline. If I have to, I’ll go straight north into Manitoba. I would rather do the U.S. route for the gas savings, but if I end up shy of the property, I can just drop anchor where I am, catch my breath, earn some income, and then start working my way west for the seminar.

My sister and her husband parked their class A in front of our house overnight and left around 7AM the next morning. About an hour later the Austin POLICE were at my door because someone filed a complaint. They were here less than 12 hours! Some people just need to chill.

I will admit I was very surprised to see your parking spot was in front of a house in that picture you posted.

As a CEO for nearly 20 years, you have my sympathy. But the fact of a complaint lodged means a response and some form of action was necessary. Sadly, the Mrs. Grundy’ s of the world haven’t got anything better to do than attempt to regulate their neighbors behaviors. I am glad they were able to let it go with a warning.

I don’t know if it was clear in my post, but I have no problem with the code enforcement officer. He was doing his job. I have a problem with old biddies who have no better hobby than to spoil a good thing for someone else.

CarolineApril 18, 2013 at 9:56 am

You know…..staying till Tuesday is OK with the officer and would give the “informer” more time to enjoy Miranda’s presence. Just something to think about since Wichita is still having winter weather alerts.

I hope Ms Cinnamon knows who the biddy is and keeps a sharp eye out for infringes at HER house. I would have my ruler out measuring her grass.. Woe to her if she leaves her garbage cans out too long on trash day. Dog barking? Noise complaint! Having a party? Disturbing the peace!

What goes around comes around biddy !

Why on earth does Dallas not have a RV park?
That sounds like a business opportunity!

GinaApril 18, 2013 at 2:46 pm

I would park one night at LEAST right in front of the the biddy’s house!
Oh the horror she would feel! LOL

Hi, Rae, I have followed you for a long time. I think the old biddy is probably jealous that someone lives the good life. Just a guess. At least the officer was nice, did his job, and you respected him for that.

I wanted to tell you that I placed an order with Amazon through your site. It was no different than going straight through Amazon. I was aghast to read last week what one blogger makes to subsidize her income through Amazon sales–smart lady.

I’ll be sure to make my purchase through your blog–I buy a lot from Amazon–and wanted to let your readers know that it is easy peasy. No extra trouble doing it that way.

Have a great trip, and eat some of that free ice cream for me! Safe travels.

Got anything to say? Go ahead and leave a comment!

Rae Crothers

Full-Time RVer and Blogger

Rae Crothers has been a full-time RVer since September 2008. In this time she has established herself as an authority on full-time RVing in Canada as evidenced through her blog, ebooks, and an RV lifestyle seminar. Rae has also been featured in numerous media outlets.

RVing is just part of Rae's story. She is also a French/English translator and transcriptionist.

Rae considers 'home' to be wherever her motorhome is parked. You can find her on the web at uskeba.ca.